Our governance & leadership
Our clients’ needs are at the centre of our services and the decisions we make
How we are governed
Our clients’ needs are at the centre of our services and decisions we make about how to run Providence Row. We carry out focus groups and pilots of our projects to make sure that we are doing everything we can to help our clients to move out of homelessness.
Providence Row is governed by a Board of Trustees. They delegate the day to day running of the charity to the Chief Executive Officer, Tom O'Connor.
The board meet quarterly to discuss issues relating to the organisation and strategy. There are five sub-committees within the board for: services, finance, fundraising & communications, property, and remuneration. These sub-committees also meet quarterly
Our trustees
Our Trustees come from a range of different professional backgrounds and bring with them an array of skills and specialisms
Our Chair: Elizabeth Canning
Elizabeth Canning was formally COO and interim Chief Executive of Pershing Ltd, a BNY Mellon company.
Elizabeth has extensive experience in operational delivery, HR, compliance, risk, continuous improvement, training and quality management .
Elizabeth has in-depth knowledge of board practices having been an executive member of 6 boards in the UK, Ireland and Jersey.
Prior to her role at Pershing/BNYMellon, Elizabeth held senior compliance roles at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and BNP Paribas. Elizabeth was a former examiner for the CISI and sat on the Financial Services Skills Commission.
Elizabeth has a BA (Hons) in History from the University of London.
Our Treasurer: Richard Solomon
Richard Solomon is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment. He is the Chief Financial Officer of St Mary's University, Twickenham. Previous roles include being Chief Accountant at RBS, Audit Partner with Ernst & Young LLP and Audit Director at Deloitte.
Paul Strange
Paul Strange is the Senior Education and Development manager with Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust. Paul has worked in the NHS since 2008 and prior to that his career has included a wide range of education roles including working for CIPD, private sector education companies and the civil service. Paul joined the board in 2006.
Jonathan Rhodes
Jonathan Rhodes joined the board in 2014 having been asked to join a property working group in 2011 on a pro-bono basis. He is a Partner at the property consultancy Cluttons, where he is the National Head of Valuations. Jonathan is an elected professional member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. His previous roles were with GL Hearn, DTZ/Donaldsons, Chesterton and Edward Erdman/Colliers CRE.
Linda McHugh
Linda joined the Board in 2013. She is a Parole Commissioner for Northern Ireland, a Trustee of several charities and the Chair of the Finance and Planning Committee of Westminster Cathedral. Earlier in her career, she worked in the corporate sector and was Chief Executive or equivalent in six different organisations.
Bishop Nicholas Hudson
Nicholas Hudson joined the board in 2017 as a nominee of the Archbishop of Westminster. Nicholas has been since 2014 an Auxiliary Bishop in the Diocese of Westminster with responsibilities for the Central and Eastern Areas. He is also a board member of the Cardinal Hume Centre.
Anthony K. Tama
Anthony K. Tama is a partner in the law firm of White & Case LLP where he advises global investment banking firms, commercial banks and public and private corporations in multijurisdictional finance transactions. Anthony is named among the recommended lawyers for his work in the high-yield debt and acquisition finance markets by Chambers UK, Chambers Global, the Legal 500 United Kingdom, and the IFLR1000: Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms. Prior to his legal career, Anthony was a faculty member at Nativity Preparatory School, a Jesuit middle school in Boston, Massachusetts and member of the Theology Department at Xaverian Brothers High School, a Catholic, college-preparatory school for boys in grades 7-12, located in Westwood, Massachusetts that is sponsored by the Xaverian Brothers. Anthony joined the board in 2023.
Sophia Kosasih
Sophia Kosasih joined the Board in 2024. She is a solicitor, currently practising in-house for Deloitte’s Consulting service line. Sophia advises businesses on commercial, legal and contracting risk, previously holding legal and compliance roles at MVF, ASOS and Pershing/BNY Mellon.
Niki Sewell
Niki Sewell joined the Board in 2024. She is Director at BNY Pershing and has managed multiple teams across Europe and India including Robotics, Client Billing, KYC/Sanctions and Funds. Niki is a Fellow of the CIPD and has 20+ years of HR experience gained predominantly within the Financial Services sector.
Our CEO: Tom O'Connor
Tom O’Connor joined Providence Row as CEO in May 2017. He was a director at CAFOD (an international development agency) where he worked for thirteen years. Before moving into the charity sector Tom worked in the recruitment industry and previous to that spent nine years as a Catholic priest in the diocese of Northampton.
